A Name Before Patek PhilippeOn May 1, 1839, Antoni Patek and François Czapek established a partnership in Geneva to manufacture pocket watches. Czapek ran the watchmaking as head watchmaker, and Patek ran the sales and operations. For six years, this was the partnership that helped solidify the early success of Patek. When the partnership dissolved in 1845, Patek went on to co-found what became Patek Philippe with Adrien Philippe. Czapek, for his part, founded Czapek & Cie with a new partner, Juliusz Gruzewski, and continued working as a watchmaker.What matters to the modern story is not the drama of the split, which appears to have been contractual rather than but the history it sheds on Patek, and in turn, on Czapek. François Czapek played an instrumental role in the Patek we know today. He was a trained watchmaker who co-built one of the most important maisons in the history of the craft. That the firm he founded afterward was never remembered the way Patek Philippe was is partly circumstance and partly the fact that Adrien Philippe's lever escapement gave Patek a competitive edge that helped the brand explode.